Gloves

If you’re one of the many people who hate poking at the tiny virtual keys on smartphone keyboards, then you might like the experimental “airwriting” glove system created by a team of computer scientists at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. When the glove’s wearer draws letters in the air with their hand, the system can identify which letters are being drawn. Those letters are converted into digital text, which could then be input into an email, text message, or any other type of mobile app.  Read More

Using a touchscreen in wintertime or on the ski slopes is annoying because screens are designed to work with bare fingers. True, there are numerous gloves available that work with screens, so you don’t freeze your fingers while surfing the internet, but they tend to look like cheap woolly things. Now Mujjo, the Dutch designer label for mobile accessories, has developed leather touchscreen gloves, so you don’t have to choose between style and frostbite.  Read More

It’s that time of year again, when those of us living in the higher latitudes are thwarted by our non-conductive gloves if we try to use touchscreen devices outdoors. Well, don’t bin those gloves just yet – a new product by the name of AnyGlove is claimed to be able to solve the problem.  Read More

Like the ill-fated internet meme says, "Winter is coming" ... or at least, it is for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Chaval's Response XRT heated gloves are designed to help outdoorsmen battle the cold that comes with the season, using some innovative new technology – and for US$389.97, they'd better.  Read More

Sometimes I’ve idly wondered if it will someday be possible to shoot videos just by making a “holding a camera” gesture with your hand. Perhaps not, but in the meantime, Italy’s hi-Fun has come out with a product that’s ... well, sort of similar. It’s a Bluetooth-enabled glove called the hi-Call, and it lets users speak on the phone using the “call me” hand gesture.  Read More

Using industry-standard manufacturing technology, researchers have integrated ultrathin and stretchable silicon-based electronics, sensors and actuators on an artificial skin that can be worn on the tip of your fingers. The result is an artificial finger cuff that could be used to produce the ultimate hi-tech surgeon's glove, capable of sensing the electrical properties of tissue, removing it locally, or even performing ultrasound imaging with a simple touch.  Read More

Researchers at Georgia Tech have seen an improvement in sensation and movement in the hands of people with paralyzing spinal cord injury (SCI) after wearing a glove that helps them learn to play piano. The Mobile Music Touch (MMT) is a glove that helps them learn to play different songs by vibrating the wearer’s fingers to tell them which keys on a piano keyboard to play. The fact the improved sensation and motor skills occurred in individuals that had sustained their injury more than a year before the study is encouraging as most rehab patients see little improvement after such a period.  Read More

Since beginning in 2003, the Microsoft Imagine Cup has tasked students the world over with developing technology aimed at solving real-world problems. In this, its 10th year, students were asked to build their project around a specific Millennium Development Goal (MDG), with the finals held this month in Sydney, Australia. The winners have just been announced and beating out teams from 75 countries to claim first place (and US$25,000) in the Software Design category was the Ukraine’s quadSquad with their EnableTalk gloves that translate sign language into speech in real time.  Read More

Although winter is currently coming to an end in the Northern Hemisphere, a certain cold-related problem with capacitive touchscreen devices still persists – you can’t use them if you’re wearing gloves or mittens. According to Washington, DC-based inventor Alice Ning, however, her TapCaps will allow you to do so, while wearing any pair of gloves.  Read More